Cyanide Research Paper
Cyanide (toxin)
Name: Kasheba Wright Course: Chemistry in our daily Lives
INTRODUCTION
Cyanide is a mitochondrial toxin that is among the most rapidly lethal poisons known to man. Used in both ancient and modern times as a method of execution, cyanide causes death within minutes to hours of exposure. It is the salts of hydrocyanic acid, it is rapidly acting chemical that can exist in various forms. Cyanide can be a colorless gas, such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN) or cyanogens chloride (CNCL) or a crystal form that is water-soluble such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) or potassium chloride (KCN) and poorly water-soluble mercury, copper, gold, and silver …show more content…
There are at least 25 cyanogenic glycosides known to be found in edible parts of plants. Cyanogenic glycosides alone are relatively non-toxic. However, as a result of enzymatic hydrolysis by beta-glucosidase following maceration of plant tissues as they are eaten, or by the gut microflora, cyanogenic glycosides are broken down to release hydrogen cyanide which is toxic to both animals and humans. The potential toxicity of a cyanogenic plant depends primarily on its capacity to produce hydrogen …show more content…
Different varieties of cassava are generally classified into two main types: sweet cassava and bitter cassava. Sweet cassava roots contain less than 50 mg per kilogram hydrogen cyanide on fresh weight basis, whereas that of the bitter variety may contain up to 400 mg per kilogram.
Cassava is prepared by peeling and grating the root, soaking it in water for at least 3 days, drying in the sun and finally grinding it into flour that can be used to make the porridge.
If cassava is peeled and soaked in water for 24 hours then sun-dried for four days, this falls to 80 mg per kg. If peeled and soaked for FIVE days and then sun-dried for a week this figure is further reduced to 30 mg per kg. Grating before soaking can reduce this amount even further to 10 mg per kg and this is the value recommended by as the maximum limit for cyanide in cassava flour. This value was chosen so that anyone eating 500 g of cassava would still be one tenth the estimated lethal dose of around 50
Name: Kasheba Wright Course: Chemistry in our daily Lives
INTRODUCTION
Cyanide is a mitochondrial toxin that is among the most rapidly lethal poisons known to man. Used in both ancient and modern times as a method of execution, cyanide causes death within minutes to hours of exposure. It is the salts of hydrocyanic acid, it is rapidly acting chemical that can exist in various forms. Cyanide can be a colorless gas, such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN) or cyanogens chloride (CNCL) or a crystal form that is water-soluble such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) or potassium chloride (KCN) and poorly water-soluble mercury, copper, gold, and silver …show more content…
There are at least 25 cyanogenic glycosides known to be found in edible parts of plants. Cyanogenic glycosides alone are relatively non-toxic. However, as a result of enzymatic hydrolysis by beta-glucosidase following maceration of plant tissues as they are eaten, or by the gut microflora, cyanogenic glycosides are broken down to release hydrogen cyanide which is toxic to both animals and humans. The potential toxicity of a cyanogenic plant depends primarily on its capacity to produce hydrogen …show more content…
Different varieties of cassava are generally classified into two main types: sweet cassava and bitter cassava. Sweet cassava roots contain less than 50 mg per kilogram hydrogen cyanide on fresh weight basis, whereas that of the bitter variety may contain up to 400 mg per kilogram.
Cassava is prepared by peeling and grating the root, soaking it in water for at least 3 days, drying in the sun and finally grinding it into flour that can be used to make the porridge.
If cassava is peeled and soaked in water for 24 hours then sun-dried for four days, this falls to 80 mg per kg. If peeled and soaked for FIVE days and then sun-dried for a week this figure is further reduced to 30 mg per kg. Grating before soaking can reduce this amount even further to 10 mg per kg and this is the value recommended by as the maximum limit for cyanide in cassava flour. This value was chosen so that anyone eating 500 g of cassava would still be one tenth the estimated lethal dose of around 50